Front fastening means for corsets



l. VERSOY FRONT FASTENING MEANS FOR coRsTs Filed Feb. 28, 1939 PatentedJune 25, 194() PATENT FRONT FASTENING MEANS FOR CORSETS ApplicationFebruary 28, 1939, Serial No. 258,969

2 Claims.` (Gl. 2-38) This invention relates to `corsets and articlesofV a kindred character designed for personal wear, andrelatesparticularly to the means for securing the adjacent edges of suchbody-encircling garments, particularly when the opening is at the frontof the garment.

. Various means, such as clasps, for example, have been employed tosecure together the ad jacent or abutting edges of garments of thischaracter, and in the past it has been common to arrange a plurality ofsuch clasps upon stay members which extend along the edges of thegarment, a plurality of the fastening means being secured to a singlestay. As such garments normally project below the waist it is notpractical to extend these clasp supporting stay members throughout thevertical length of the garment as it would not be sufficiently flexibleadjacent the opening. It has been common, there fore, to provide suchstay members from the top of the garment to a point below the waist lineand to secure the edges of the opening below this point by fasteningmembers which are individually secured to the garment, so that thegarment edges may flex between these members. In other words, the upperportion of the garment is provided with stay members to which a numberof clasps `or similar securing means are secured, and the lower portionof the garment may be rclosed by hooks and loops or hooks and eyeletswhich are not secured to stays but are secured individually vto thefabric of the garment itself. l

The present invention relates particularly to the improvement in thesecuring means employed at the lower or flexible portion of the garmentadjacent the opening. In the past it has been difiicult to providefastening members which would not become detached or which would not bebulky or unsightly when in use, and at the same time could be readilysecured by the wearer of the garment.

One object of the present invention is to provide a securing means forthe edges of the opening of a corset or like garment, which securingmeans may be readily secured when the garment is put on and at the sametime any danger `of accidental detachment of the securing members willbe obviated.

Another object of the invention is the provi-` point, and at the sametime will hold the abutting edges of the garment in a securely closedposition.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel featuresand combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the front portion of a corsetprovided with my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the securing means at the upperportion of the garment;

Fig. 3 shows the cooperating securing means at the lower or flexibleportion of the garment;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through line @i-Il of Fig. 1 showing thesecuring elements in the position occupied at the beginning of themovement to release the loops from the studs, `and Fig. 5 is a sideelevational view of one of the loop members which constitutes one of thecooperating securing members.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shownin-Fig. 1 the front portion of a corset comprising sections II) and I I,these sections meeting along the line I2 which constitutes the openingin the garment and in the form shown extends throughout the verticallength thereof. f

Stay members I3 and It are provided in the proximate edges I 0 and I I,these stay members, as shown in Fig. 1, extending from the upper edge ofthe garment to a point approximately half way to the lower edge. Itwill, of course, be understood that the length of the stay members I3and I4 will be varied as desired according to the particular style ofgarment to which the invention is applied. Secured to the stay member Itare a plurality of clasp members I5 which are provided with openings I 6of keyhole shape to cooperate with headed studs I'I, secured to the staymembers I3. These members are of usual form and no further descriptionthereof will be necessary. It will be obvious that the upper portion ofthe garment over which the stay members I3 and I4 extend, will berelatively rigid at the area covered 'by these members. Below the staymembers I3 and I4 it may be desired that the garment be flexible so asto accommodate itself to the different positions of the limbs or body ofthe wearer. It is, therefore, not practical Vto extend the stays I3 andI4 throughout the length of the garment but it is preferred to provideindividual fastening members over this lower area so that the garmentmay flex between such members.

These .fastening elements or members consist, in

the form shown, of loops I8 of the shape shown in Fig. 3, whichcooperate with headed studs I9 secured by riveting or other suitablemeans to relatively broad base plates 20, the studs being secured bytheir base plates at the edge of one section I0 of the garment while theloops are secured adjacent the edge of the other section Il of thegarment.

The loops I3 are provided with a relatively large intermediate portion2I and a smaller end portion 22, so that the head 23 of the stud I9 maybe received in the enlarged portion 2l and the shank thereafter slippedinto" the r`smaller .portion 22 of the loop, the head being sufficientlylarge so that it will not slip through this portion of the loop. Thesides'of the front portion 22 of the loop are substantially parallel andwill receive therebetween quite freely the shank of the stud I9. As itsrear end the loops Ill may be provided with eyes 24 which may be securedby rivets 25 to a strip oftape 26'in preparation for attaching them tothe garment section Il. As shown in Fig. Ll, one or more plies (two, asshown) of a thin fabric 2 may be foldedover the tape 26, the loops i8projecting through openings 28 in the folds of these members so thatthey may extend over the edge of this section of the garment. The outerfabric of the garment, as shown at 2g, is also brought up over the baseportion or eyes of the loop and turned under, as shown at 30. A similardisposition is made of the back fabric 3l of the garment so that theloops project between folded edges of the plies of fabric 30 and 3l butproject through openings of the plies of fabric 21. It will also benoted that as shown in Fig. 3 these openings pass'over the largerportion 2l of the loop into the restricted portion between the largeportion and the eyes 24, so that when the loops are forced through theopenings they will tend to remain in position while the stitching isbeing accomplished. After the tape 26 is placed in. position `betweenthe plies of fabric, as shown in Fig. 4, the edge of the garment` issuitably stitched to hold the tape and plies of fabric in place as wellas to hold the loops in the proper position. i

The base plates 2li having the studs I9 thereon are placed between-theplies of fabric at the edge of the garment section I0, with the studs I9projecting through openingsl in the plies of fabric above the plates tobe exposedupon the surface of the garment where they may cooperate withthe loops I8. y

As shownin Fig. 5, the loops I8 are not fiat in a longitudinal directionbut are arch-shaped, having their highest point intermediate their ends,as shown at 32 in this figure, and the two ends sloping downwardly fromthis point. `This longitudinal bend or arch shape of the-loops;` isimportant in preventingvany accidental detach-l ment of these membersfrom the studs. As will be apparent from Fig. 1,-the edges of thegarment close in close juxtaposition and in order to bring the heads 23of the studs into the larger portion of the loop to detach it, it isnecessary to bring the edges of the garment together or to lap the edgeof the portion Il over the section lil. It is necessary, therefore,- toraise the ,sec-I tion Ii slightly, as shown in Fig. 4, above the planeof the section I0 so that it will slip thereover; When the section Il israised, as shown in Fig. 4, due to the arch shape of the loop, the uppersurface of the loop contacts with the lower surface of the head 23 ofthe; stud, as shown! at the point 33. This causes the tip end or toe ofthe loop 34 to be forced downwardly against the outer surface of thesection I0 of the garment, thus engaging this surface frictionally andcompressing it or biting into it to some extent, so as to resist anyfurther relative movement between the two sections. It is necessary,therefore, thatk the section II be positively raised and moved inoverlapping position over the section IIJ before the loop can bedetached from the stud. Thus, as it is necessary for the edge of thesection Il to be moved over the section lil in order to detach thefastening members, and as the section II must be raised above thesection IU in order that this be done, there is no likelihood of thefasteners becoming undone accidentally, and thus made, they form areliable and secure. means for holding the edges of the garmenttogether.

However, they can be readily detached when the actions described arepositively performed and as the stud fits loosely in the loop portion 22there `will be less resistance offered to the release of the stud fromthe loop when it is desired to open the garment.

The element IB may be considered as comprising a base portion which isprovided with the eyes by which the element is secured to the tape 26,and a loop portion which projects forwardly from the edge of the sectionto which the element is attached to embrace the stud I9, and it will benoticed, particularly from Figs. 4 and 5, that, as so considered, theloop portion lies in a plane making an vobtuse angle with the plane ofthe base portion, so that when the corset is worn and the base portionis held by the garment substantially in the plane of the garment, theloop portion will project inwardly (or downwardly) toward the surface ofthe adjacent section surrounding the stud, so that the tip will be infrictional engagement with the surface of the fabric surrounding thestud and prevent play between the two sections. f

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the detailsshown but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit ofthe invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

l/Vhat I claim is:`

1. In a fastening means for a corset having sections with edges`designed to be secured in abutting relation, a series of headed'studsindividually secured adjacent the edge of one section to project fromthe surfaceA thereof, and a series of cooperating members individuallysecured in spaced relation to the proximate edge of the other sectionwhereby the garment sections may flex therebetween, each of said memberscomprising a base portion and a loop portion, said base portion havingeyes by which it may bev secured between the plies of the section towhich it is attached, with the loop portion projecting therefrom toengage the corresponding stud and seat it adjacent the end of the loop,said base portion lying in a plane making an obtuse angle with the planeof the stud seating part of the loop portion wherebywhen the loopembraces the stud and the base portion lies in the plane of the garment,said loop portion is di'- rected toward the surfaceof the sectioncarrying the stud with the tip of the `loop biting into the fabricaround the stud. Y In a fastening means for a corset having sectionswith edges designed. to be secured to r `getlier in abutting. relation,relativelyrigid-stay members secured to said sections adjacent theiredges and extending downwardly therealong from the upper edges of thegarment but terminating short of thelower edge thereof, each of saidstay members carrying a plurality of cooperating fastening members,means for securing together the edges of said sections below said staymembers, said means comprising headed studs secured individuallyadjacent the edge of one of said sections in spaced relation, a tapesecured adjacent the edge of the other section, co-operating fasteningelements secured in spaced relation to said tape, said elements eachcomprising a base portion secured directly to the tape and a loopportion to project there-- from and engage said studs, said loop portionjoining said base portion at an obtuse angle, and a strip of fabricfolded around the outer edge of the tape and secured at its free edgesto the fabric of the garment section, said strip having openn ings inits folded edge through which the loop portions of said elementsproject, and said loop portions being enlarged in Width intermediatetheir ends and of reduced width adjacent said openings whereby they areheld in position during manufacture of the garment by the edges of saidopenings.

IRVING R. VERSOY.

